SAN DIEGO - Two San Diego men and a third from Orange County face criminal misdemeanor charges for their role in the deaths of more than 400 elegant terns in the summer of 2006 at Long Beach-Los Angeles Harbor.

Prosecutors allege the men, who are employed by Point Loma Maritime Services, repeatedly walked aboard and moved a barge where dozens of elegant terns were nesting.

The men's actions frightened the birds, which were not yet ready to fly, and the terns went overboard and drowned, said Long Beach city prosecutor Tom Reeves.

Hundreds of dead terns wash ashore in the days following the incident.